Orieni Era Minbari ships
John Hamill (MrPunch)

As the modern version of the Jammer began to be deployed to the Minbari fleet during the late 1980's the first ships to be refitted were the venerable Tinshara and Ashinar frigates. In one form or another these ships had served back to the time of Valen's War against the Shadows. Although dwarfed by the newer Minbari capital ships, they remained a powerful element of the fleet capable of fast attack and escort missions which their larger cousins would be too unweildy to handle.

The Tinshara design was the base model of the Tinashi hull until the fleet-wide introduction of the Neutron Laser in the 2050's. As such it is a Common Base Hull until 2052, whereupon only a few examples were left unrefitted by their stubborn Warrior Caste captains.

The Ashinar was the forerunner to the Aishinta Close Escort and as such is almost the same as its successor. The primary difference between them (besides the usual Armor and Sensor differences) was the lack of the EP-Gun, which didn't appear on any ships till the mid twenty-first century. Until that point the purely Fusion Cannon armed escorts were regrettably unable to disable fighters, leaving those few raiders and others who blundered into Minbari space with little hope for survival, and the Minbari with little face-to-face contact with the outside universe.

Babylon 5 Wars Reasoning

These two designs were inspired by discussions on the b5wars.net boards about Orieni Era (ie 1980's - 2000's) Minbari ships.  The goal was to provide a Tinashi hull contemporary to the Tigara and Sharaal, and later a precursor to the Aishinta and Esharan escorts came easily. 

The conversion was fairly simple since we already have the Sharaal - Sharlin and Tigara - Tigarin examples to base it on. Basically swap out Neutron Lasers for Molecular Disruptors, lose a point of Engine and Sensors, and alter some Armor and Structure values to slightly weaken the ship.

The Tinshara is Common until 2052 whereupon the Tinashi refit makes it Rare. 
The Ashinar is an Uncommon model until 2066, after which the Aishinta almost completely phases it out of service. This coupled with the Esharan introduced in 2063 results in the Ashinar becoming Rare.
